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Tuesday, 17 July 2012 - Cycle route

 
 
So this is my cycle route to work in the mornings. I usually stumble out of my apartment building still half asleep at about 8:30am and start dragging myself along my street.
 
But then it's on to a main road through my neighbourhood of Astoria and I quickly wake up. Spot the rape-mobile there.

 
Before long I reach the Queensboro Bridge which connects Queens to Manhattan over the East River. The pedestrian and cycle lane here was once an outer lane for automobile traffic, until the mayor of New York back in 2000 made a big push for the city to become more cycle-friendly and had it converted into what it is today. Good man, good man ;)
 
Cars and trucks screaming past me on one side, and the subway on the other. Incidentally, the Queensboro Bridge is the first entry point into Manhattan in the course of the New York City Marathon which I am seriously considering doing next year after my big effort in Paris. It's also the last exit point out of Manhattan in the Five Boro Bike Tour - an annual 68km ride around all five boroughs of New York City (something else to keep in mind for next year!).
 
 
Looking north along the East River; Upper Manhattan on the left, Roosevelt Island on the right. The long and skinny island is about 3km long with a maximum width of only 240m. It is mostly full of apartment buildings as far as I know (and can see) with a population of about 10,000 - I haven't had a chance to go check it out yet. That thing hanging in the sky is the Roosevelt Island Tramway, connecting the Island to Manhattan.

 
 
Once I'm off the bridge I cruise along the leafy 61st Street between First Avenue and Fifth Avenue, passing several north-south Manhattan aterial avenues en route, and avoiding several lethal potholes in the road.

 
 
And then the fun really starts (for me) - Fifth Avenue! Notice the black chick directing traffic there (basically doing the job of the traffic lights for them). Some days she's a white man, but most days it's her ;)
 
It doesn't really matter what time of day it is or even what day of the week of it is - this avenue and many of its counterparts are always chaotic. I love it :)
 
These things don't help. Much of Manhattan is heated, cooled, and powered by steam. These stacks safely vent off leaks in the system, but block a lane of traffic.

 
 
While stopped at a red light I noticed this guy having a full-on conversation with Ben Stiller on the side of the bus hahaha! I couldn't make out what he was saying but Ben was certainly getting the gossip of the day. This city is full of nuts!
 
Speaking of nuts, there's me ;) But I'm definitely not the only one - New York's cyclist population is slowly but surely on the rise. What you can't see through this mayhem is the shopping. This section of Fifth Avenue that crosses Midtown Manhattan, especially between 49th Street and 60th Street, is lined with prestigious shops and is consistently ranked among the most expensive shopping streets in the world.

 
Unfortunately, I only get to enjoy Fifth for ten short blocks before heading down either 53rd or 51st Streets to my building, which tends to be an exercise in pedestrian avoidance.
 
And safe! It's only a 7km ride (unless I have time to take an extended detour) but it's an awesome one. And the trip home, well it's much of the same, but in reverse :)

Wednesday, 18 July 2012 - BOOM!

 
 
It was another 30-something degree scorcher today, so I wandered down to Central Park during lunch to enjoy it for a bit. Just two hours later, this was the scene outside.
 
For almost two hours the skies opened up and drenched the city, and the thunder and lightning was incredible! Very few people had thought to bring an umbrella today.

 
 
But fair not. Every time the heavens open, they appear, from out of nowhere. They are the umbrella salesmen, always black guys I've noticed, and always there to save your day with a low-quality umbrella that folds out the wrong way if you so much as blow on it hehe.
 
Not a good day to be a cycle taxi (apparently called a 'pedicab') or a cyclist at all, but I rode home regardless.

Thursday, 19 July 2012 - Microsoft

 
My work team had a big meeting with Microsoft this afternoon (whose New York offices are conveniently located directly across the street from my office building) regarding the work we're currently doing and what they can bring to the table. Afterwards we all went out for a massive feed at Sparks Steak House, and holy shit was it good! But it wasn't cheap. Nine people, steaks all round including starters and desserts, plus numerous bottles of wine from their amazing wine list and the bill came to... $1,500 - ouch! Not to worry, Microsoft kindly footed the bill hehe, on the same day it was made public they just made their first ever quarterly loss since it joined the stock market in 1986. Thanks boys, pleasure doing business as always! In 1985, the boss and underboss of the Gambino crime family were gunned down near the entrance of this steak house under the orders of another member of the family. Dysfunctional stuff.

Friday, 20 July 2012 - Apartment sweet apartment

 
 
Alrighty then, so this is my apartment I moved into a couple weeks ago now. It takes up the third and fourth floor of a six-floor apartment building, with the living room here spanning both floors.
 
Evidently you can never have too many cushions on your couch. If the place looks empty it's because it is. One of my roommates spends most of the week working down in Atlanta, and the other works stupid hours over summer so I've all but got the place to myself.
 
What do you reckon is behind that door?

 
 
Wrong, it's the elevator hehe.
 
Kitchen plus something of a dining area out of shot behind me, including a wine chiller there and hard liquor in the cupboards above. Nice, nice.
 
Back upstairs and down the hallway to...

 
...my room! And as far as bedrooms in New York go, this is a pretty bloody good size. Plenty of space, plenty of storage, bike fits in there, and...
 
 
...I have my own balcony, yay! It's not usually this moist - it pissed with rain right before I shot this.
 
This is our view of Manhattan from the roof deck. In an ideal world it'd be much closer but let's be honest I can't complain :)

Sunday, 22 July 2012 - 5 Pointz

 
 
Welcome to 5 Pointz: The Institute of Higher Burnin' (or the 5Pointz Aerosol Arts Center Inc.) in Long Island City! Some 10-15 years ago this was just a rundown warehouse, until some folk got together and turned it into what has become a showcase for graffiti artists the world over.
 
Absolutely no photography?! Absolutely my ass!

 
 
Some of the work is incredible! The name 5 Pointz signifies the five boroughs of New York coming together as one but, because of its reputation as an epicentre of the graffiti scene, the industrial complex has actually united so-called aerosol artists from across the world.
 
 

 
 
Around the front of the warehouse: much of the same. Unfortunately, as impressive as it is and apparently quite a positive thing for the community as a whole, this complex is earmarked for demolition and due to be replaced by high-rise residential towers.
 

 
 
From LIC I crossed from Queens into Brooklyn. Apparently there's no other place like it in the world. How about that.
 
I wanted to ride over the Brooklyn Bridge, but first took a quick detour to check out the hood.

 
 
Right beside the bridge is the aptly-named Brooklyn Bridge Park. The park covers 85 acres and is an awesome spot right on the East River shoreline across from Downtown Manhattan. Back in the day this was all warehouses, piers, and shipping yards. Cargo ship operations on this stretch of waterfront closed in the early 80s, and the idea of a large park area was conceived shortly after.

Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge. The Statue of Liberty is out of shot to the left, and the Twin Towers of the original World Trade Center would have been in the very middle.

 
 
Even the water taxis are yellow.
 
Sunny and late-20s - it was a bloody nice day for a bit of this!
 
At first glance I thought some chick had her jubblies out, but no such luck.

 
 
So then, the Brooklyn Bridge! Like all of the bridges in the city (these days), Brooklyn Bridge has a dedicated pedestrian and cycle path away from vehicular traffic. However, unlike the others, this one is much more famous and attracts droves of tourists. That being the case, this path gets bloody congested and there is a constant battle going on between us cyclists and them damn pedestrians hehe.
 
Incidentally, this big guy is the new One World Trade Center, due for completion next year. It has been the tallest building in New York since April 30 this year, giving al-Qaeda something new to aim at.

 
 
Vroom!
 
Looking across to the nearby Manhattan Bridge.
 
Hooray for cycle lanes!

 
 
Off the bridge and into the bowels of Lower Manhattan.
 
The sign there says no skateboarding (among other things). Guess what this guy was doing hehe.

 
 
Since I was in the area I went for a wee look down Wall Street. It's so important that it gets two street signs.
 
Big bad Wall Street is home to the New York Stock Exchange, by far the world's largest by by market capitalization of its listed companies at US$14 trillion. The average daily trading value is somewhere in the ballpark of US$150 billion.
 
The only action around here on the weekends are tourists.

 
 
Here's something I really admire about Manhattan. Despite the chaos and the overbearing presence of skyscrapers, there is still a copious number of parks scattered throughout the island.
 
Near Wall Street is the on-going development of the new World Trade Center. After years of delay and controversy, reconstruction is now full steam ahead. The National September 11 Memorial & Museum is in front of me behind the temporary fencing, located on the former location of the Twin Towers. Something for another day.

 
 
From Ground Zero I headed back up the middle of the Island along Sixth Avenue, the street I work on and one of my favourites for playing in traffic.

 
Sixth Avenue passes through several well-known areas such as SoHo...
 
...and Greenwich Village. All good stuff to check out in the near future :)

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Page Comments


Nice digs!
- Auntee

flash apartment!
- Jen